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Arthur Hooten,(Arthur, whose nickname was Arturo Van Hooten was a big oversized jolly guy who was a bit out of place because he really had nothing in common but he was a nice guy and was there only before Elvis went to the army.) Cliff Glaves,(Cliff was one of the all time, one of a kind, con man character who was there in the very early years and would show up every year through the 60's or so after that but Elvis and us could only take his antics for about 3 or 4 days before we hinted for him to leave. He was funny in a way and Elvis basically liked him he was always broke and we got tired of his daily mooching of money and cigarettes from us. Typical example: He showed up at Rocca Place in '66 and every morning as we were walking out the door he would say to me,"hey Marty, got a cigarette?" Elvis would look at me he knew I knew what Cliff was doing. It was a time when I smoked heavily and would buy them by the carton. So that first day he asked I told him I'd be right back, i went to my room and got a pack and gave it to Cliff because i knew if I gave him just one cigarette he would be coming back to me all day to get another and another and I wanted to save me having to be subjected to his shit. Elvis just smiled when i did that and Cliff would say every morning for three days because it was a daily occurance,"Hey Man thanks, that's nice of you. You're a great guy."(part of his con). On the fourth morning here he comes again at the door,"hey Marty got a cigarette?" I handed him one cigarette and said, "That's all I have Cliff, I'm out of packs,carton's empty." he says to me in a accusing voice,"You cheap son of a bitch!" Elvis falls on the floor laughing and all I did was shake my head thinking,"For three days I'm a great guy but on the fourth when I don't have another pack to give you I'm a cheap sonofabitch." When we got in the car all of a sudden I busted out laughing thinking about it and Elvis started laughing again, he knew what I was thinking. That was typical,classic Cliff Gleaves, he left that evening back to Florida where he palyed piano in a lounge frequented by rich old widows who he used to con into supporting him.) Gene Smith (Gene was Elvis' first cousin and one of the very first people to work and travel with Elvis. Gene was funny in the way he talked and prounced his words, he called a truck a cruck and a light bulb a light bud, he was like a brother to Elvis who Elvis would have done anything for but unfortunately Gene got light fingered with some of Elvis' jewelry in early 61 and Elvis fired him and they very seldom saw each other after that. More than anyone Gene blew his relationship with Elvis big time.), Alan Fortas(Alan was introduced to Elvis in '58 by George Klein they knew each other as kids in the Jewish community which is how I knew him before Elvis. Elvis knew of him because Alan was a big high school football player who went on to play football for Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Alan was the prankster and used to love to pull practical jokes on people including some of our kids. he was basically a good hearted guy and he and Elvis had a good relationship. because of something he said that made Elvis angry, he was asked to leave in the 70's and he went on to become a successful Municipal Bond salesman in Memphis, he died of cancer in '92 and has been greatly missed by us all), Nick Adams(Nick was made known because of one of Elvis' favorite movies, "Rebel Without A Cause", he was also close to that young Hollywood crowd back in the 50's of Natalie Wood,John Ashley and James Dean. The Characters that Elvis liked. they met in Holly wood I think by Natalie andhe travelled with Elvis every now and then in those early years after Elvis made his first movie. Nick came to Graceland a few times back then and was a lot of fun, he would do anything to make people laugh. The first time I met him was at Graceland one night in '57 just as i got up there they were out by the pool and Nick was getting ready to dive off the diving board when he told someone to turn all the lights off and it got pitch black, he then yelled turn them back on and when they came on he was diving off the board sans his bathing trunks absolutely naked, he did it for shock value and laughs.yes, he committed suicide over some girl), Ray Sitton(Ray was as big as Arthur and Lamar and he was a big simpleton unfortunately he also liked to drink and when he did he put his hands on girls who didn't want him to and he had to be let go eventually after a couple of years because of it. His funny story of how he got his nickname Chief, was a classic in the group. He used to hang around at the gate in '61 after Elvis got back from the army and everytime Elvis would drive in or out of the gate he Ray would say hello or try to talk with Elvis, and would say, "Hey Chief how you doin'?" One night in '61 the gate guard calls up andsays, "Chief is down here and wants to know if he can come up and join the party. this was back in the days when we used to let some gate people up,especially girls and the basment would be full of people,mostly females, We tell Elvis and he say,"Chief? Who the hell is that, I call every guy at the gate Chief cause i don't know their names. We started to laugh and Elvis then says, "Aw let him up, let's see who he is." Chief came up and he ingratiated himself to Elvis because i think Elvis felt sorry for him because he was a big overwieght simpleton who didn't really fit in anywhere but Elvis laughed at him when he came up when he told him that he called others Chief. All Ray did was smiled because he was too slow to understand that some of the laughing was a friendly laugh at him.) , Jimmy Kingsley,(Jimmy was a smart ass who should have never been part of the group. he was hired with Richard during the making of It Happened At The World's Fair with Richard because they showed up one day in Seattle from Memphis. They had hung around awhile with us in Memphis
for a short time before. On the day Esposito left in '64 Jimmy started bad mouthing Elvis because he thought Elvis did Joe dirty which he didn't. We were in the back yard and he was telling me what he thought of Elvis. Most of us were tired of his mouth and as Foreman I said to hi,"Jimmy, if that's what you think of Elvis why the hell are you still here taking the man's money. If that's how you feel why don't you get the fuck out of here." he left that day and went to Hollywood and worked as a movie stunt man for awhile. He committed suicide in the 80's over his wife who was playing around with other guys.) Richard Davis(Richard and I were really close all through the movie years and he,Billy, Sonny and I hung together. Richard was my club hopping buddy in L.A. He was a real good worker for Elvis and would do anything asked of him. He took care of Elvis' clothes, a valet. Elvis and us called him "Broom" because he was as thin as a broom stick even though he had an apetite to choke a horse.His weight secret in staying thin was that he would take thirty minutes cutting his food up on his plate in timy pieces before he took a bit. that used to drive us crazy especially when he ate fried eggs. he left Elvis a couple of times and worked for me as a record promotion man for awhile when i left American Studios to open my own company. He then went on to become a record promotion man for Warner Brothers Records. Richard married four times, i was his best man for two of them but his best one was his last one,Kim, they had triplets who Richard was devoted to and became a house husband while Kim worked for Horseshow Casino in Tunica,Mississippi as a Casino Host. Richard stayed home and took care of the kids but unfortunately he died about three years after they were born. he died in his sleep about two years ago. I miss him greatly as do some of the other guys.)

Al was originally hired as a nightime security guard at the Monovale House in LA in the 70's so that Priscilla and Lisa would have some sort of security while Elvis was in Vegas or on the road. he was an odd pick because he's not that big or tough. Elvis took a liking to him for whatever reason and hired him to travel with him. Al was a quiet guy who took care of Elvis stage wardrobe like the other young guys.

Typically George niow says some negative things about Parker but for years when Elvis and Parker were alive, George thought he was great mainly because Parker took care of George with some perks and it is thought that Parker was the one who suggested to Elvis to fly George out to the wedding in '67 although Klein makes it seem it was because Elvis wouldn't get married without him there. Now Klein takes some shots at Parker because Parker's no longer here and he can't do George anymore favors and also probably because his publishers wanted some negative stuff or they wouldn't give him a book deal and money. He did the same thing about Vernon Presley in his book and in life.

Marty